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Consumers want to purchase homes, but rising house prices have convinced them now isn’t a good time to buy, according to the April 2015 National Housing Survey released May 7 by Fannie Mae. Overall, the survey showed improved housing sentiment, but not enough to trigger any breakout housing market activity.

Flipped homes made up 4 percent of all single-family home sales in the first quarter, with an average gross profit of more than $72,000, according to the Q1 2015 U.S. Home Flipping Report, released May 7 by data firm RealtyTrac.

Single-family mortgage seller/servicers that want to continue doing business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have to comply with new operational and financial requirements, including a minimum net worth of $2.5 million, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported May 19.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported May 14 that its new statistical model could help it predict the severity of future housing market downtowns. As outlined in “Working Paper 15-1: How Low Can House Prices Go? Estimating a Conservative Lower Bound,” the FHFA noted a worst-case scenario similar to the 2008 housing crash.

Foreclosures in March fell by 15 percent compared to the previous year, but the percentage of homeowners still struggling to make housing payments remains above the pre-recession average of 1.5 percent, according to analytics firm CoreLogic, MBA NewsLink reported May 13.

New Jersey homeowners pay the highest annual property taxes, with the state collecting more than $8,100 for the average single-family residence, according to a May 5 report released by data firm RealtyTrac. California tops the list in total tax collection, followed by Texas and New York.

One of the best home-selling seasons in recent years is underway, according to Wall Street firms, but they noted that such factors as student loan debt and rental trends mean the market has not yet returned to normal, MBA NewsLink reported May 20.

For the third consecutive month, homeowner opinions of home values are higher than the value assessed by professional appraisers, according to the Home Price Perception Index released May 13 by mortgage lender Quicken Loans, HousingWire reported May 13.

Homes in Hawaii are overvalued by 17 percent making them the country’s most overpriced properties, according to data released May 6 by ratings agency Fitch Ratings. Also overvalued are homes in Nevada, North Dakota and Arizona. The most undervalued homes are in Michigan, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.

The Mortgage Fraud Risk Report released May 5 by risk management firm Interthinx showed that mortgage fraud during the fourth quarter 2014 was up slightly from the previous quarter while valuation fraud saw a slight 2 percent drop during the same reporting period.